


Pale Reflections

by scandalsavage



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Dick calls him Ric to differentiate, M/M, Mutual Pining, Past Underage, Pining, it's an evil Dick Grayson from an alternate universe, it's not really Ric, just mentioned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-02
Updated: 2020-09-02
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:49:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26248969
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/scandalsavage/pseuds/scandalsavage
Summary: DC Kink Meme PromptDark!Dick Meets Dick, is Gross About JasonDark!Dick from a universe where he and Jason have been together since Jason was underage (and are in a not so healthy relationship) meets regular world Dick where he and Jason have never been together and is immediately really gross about Jason and his relationship.BP- in Dark!Dick's universe Jason didn't die at the hands of the Joker, Dick saved him and the Joker perished. Dick really doesn't appreciate how his Jason is looking at his counterpart once this comes outBP- Dick tries to tell Bruce that he doesn't want Dark!Dick together with Jason on a mission or something and Bruce waves him off, since Dick, he's you and you'd never do anything like thatBP- Dark!Dick calls Jason from Dicks universe "little wing", and no one else is upset but Dick sees redMost interested in the dialogue between the Dicks, with one being disgusted but intrigued while the other clearly gets off on making his counterpart uncomfortable, but also I'm clearly not opposed to seeing the Dark!Dick, Dick and Jason interaction overall + certainly wouldn't mind if dark!dick/jason/dick smut ended up happening
Relationships: Dick Grayson/Jason Todd
Comments: 16
Kudos: 369





	Pale Reflections

**Author's Note:**

> I didn't see the second note on this with the other idea about Dark!Dick giving Dick pointers and I really regret that because it would have been fun. Sorry.

For the most part, Dick enjoys meeting his counterparts from other universes. Most of them are pretty cool (or just… _pretty_ , in the case of the Earth-11 Nightwing. He can still feel her soft, shiny hair sliding through his fingers like fine silk). But this one...

He eyes the other Dick Grayson up and down while the newbie explains how he came to be in their world.

They’ve never actually met an _evil_ version of him and, to be honest, Dick has always kind of low key thought that maybe there _wasn’t_ one to find.

It’s not like other Dick came out, guns blazing, trying to kill everyone. On the contrary, he’s been just as polite and charming as one would expect of any Dick Grayson. It’s just a… _vibe_. There’s just something about him that puts Dick off.

He has never had this feeling about another him before. He tries to ignore it, tries to write it off as something he ate or not getting enough sleep. Maybe it’s just the way his counterpart’s eyes keep sweeping over the rooftops like he’s expecting someone else. Perhaps Dick’s brain is reading it as nervously cataloging surroundings.

Regardless, other Dick is being a perfect guest in their world, answering Bruce’s, frankly probing, questions without hesitation or complaint, ruffling Tim’s hair like he’s known him forever.

Even Damian seems swayed.

Maybe it’s just because this time the alternate him came to their world and not the other way around.

“So,” Other Dick says after passing Bruce’s interrogation (and Dick has got to think of a different way to refer to his doppelganger). Those familiar but… _different_ deep blue eyes scan the area again. “Whole gang’s here. Mostly. You have a Jason in this universe?”

Damian tuts and Dick can _hear_ Tim’s eyes roll. Even Bruce gives an exasperated sigh as he answers, “Yes.”

But Dick just narrows his eyes at Ric (he always hated that nickname so it feels a little like justice, even if he isn’t sure for what). He doesn’t like the way Ric looked at him with a conspiratorial smirk, or the _something_ off about his tone when he said Jason’s name.

If this alternate Dick is thinking about settling some grudge he has with alternate Jason by picking a fight with Dick’s Jason, well… that’s just not going to happen.

“Jay was mopping up a sex trafficking ring down at the docks,” Dick adds, eyeing his doppelganger from behind the lenses of his domino. He knows his own tells. “He’ll meet us back at the cave.”

Bruce grunts an acknowledgement and turns toward the batplane, Damian falling into step behind him. There isn’t anything obvious about the way Ric reacts, but Dick can see him brighten a little at the news that they’ll be seeing Jason soon.

So… it’s not a fight he’s looking for. That’s good at least.

“I’d, uh, be happy to take your bike back to the cave if you wanna take the car,” Tim offers, big stars in his eyes. It’s something they have in common, their love of bikes and cars and tinkering with them. It’s been awhile since they swapped rides and compared upgrades. Tim smirks, “Then you’d be able to talk to yourself.”

Ric laughs and it sounds just like Dick’s but he just can’t shake the feeling that there’s something false in it, some more… sinister.

But he lets Tim take his bike, following as the younger man leads the way down the fire escape to the street.

“So,” Ric mutters, falling into step beside him. “I have an idea. Hear me out before you reject it out of hand… You, me, Jay, some rope, a gag, and we see who can make him scream the loudest with his mouth stuffed full.”

There isn't much in the universe that genuinely shocks or surprises Dick anymore and he’s well-known for his grace and agility. So, for what might be the first time in his life, Dick trips over his own feet, just barely catching himself on the hood of the Batmobile.

He hears his bike roar to life and looks up just in time to catch Tim’s little wave as he speeds out of the alley while Ric laughs and helps him up.

Dick glares at the other him making his way around to the passenger side. “Excuse me?”

The smirk Ric gives him is all sin. Dick recognizes it. It’s his flirt-smirk. The one Kori always said was cute. The one that always made Roy’s eyes go big and his Adam’s Apple bob. The one Wally said was predatory and irresistible.

“I know, I know,” Ric says, tipping forward to fold his arms over the hood of the car and lean against them. “I’m not much of a sharer either, obviously. And I’m not sure I’d say ‘yes’ if our places were reversed. I like to keep my toys to myself, and as I’m sure you know, Jay’s my favorite because I’m the only one who’s ever played with him. But I figure, since we’re the same person, I’d still be the only one.”

At a loss for words, Dick can just stand there and stare at him, mouth ajar, nose wrinkled, brows draw down as if trying to block his eyes from seeing the images running through his mind. The words roll around his brain over and over again as he looks for any other possible meaning than the one his doppelganger so clearly intends.

That gut-feeling that Ric is bad news flares into nauseating certainty.

He opens his mouth but the proposed concept is so utterly foreign to him that his response isn’t fully formed yet and he has to close it again.

Ric raises his eyebrows like he thinks Dick’s reaction is weird and Dick feels like he’s fallen into the Twilight Zone or something.

“You… you and Jason are… together?” he babbles finally.

The other man stares at him like he’s an alien. Then bursts out laughing and gets in the car.

Still baffled, Dick follows. Starts the batmobile, pulls onto the road, starts the drive back to the cave. They sit in silence for a moment, each mulling over what is clearly a surprising development for each of them.

After several minutes, Dick has almost successfully shoved it to the part of him where he compartmentalizes the crazy shit he has to deal with, and is more than happy to pretend like the last five minutes never happened.

Then Ric rolls his head to the side to look directly at him.

“You’ve really never fucked him?”

Dick chokes on his breath and swerves, almost side-swiping a mini-van with a “Baby on Board” sticky in the window.

“God, no!” Dick snaps at him without taking his eyes off the road. If he sees that smug, lecherous look on Ric’s face—his own face—he thinks he might vomit.

Ric looks him over critically. Like he’s trying to decide if Dick is lying or not.

“Huh.” The doppelganger flops back against his seat. “Weird.”

Now Dick tosses him a brief glance. “‘ _Weird_ ’?” he growls. “It’s weird that I haven’t… that I haven’t… Jesus, that I haven’t had sex with my brother?”

For some reason, that seems to greatly amuse the other man. Within a few seconds, he’s laughed so hard there’s tears in the corners of his eyes and he’s gasping for breath.

“Oh come _on_ ,” Ric manages between wheezes. “He’s not your brother. At least, _he_ never thought of _you_ as his brother. And I bet if you’re honest with yourself, you’ve never thought of him as a brother the same way you do Tim.”

Heat rushes to the surface of Dick’s face. “You don’t even know my Jason.”

The grin Ric turns on him is smug and victorious. “I know you _conveniently_ ignored the second half of what I said. I know you just called him yours.”

Dick’s whole body goes hot. With embarrassment or rage, he can’t tell. “I—… you—... That’s not what I meant, and you know it.”

The bastard-Dick faces forward. He languidly raises his arms and folds his hands together behind his head. “Sure it isn’t, Dickie.”

This is the most agonizing, frustrating conversation he’s ever had in his life. And that’s counting every single argument and conversation with every other person who wears a Bat emblem, which is saying _a lot_ as the whole family are the most bull-headed, stubborn, willfully antagonistic people in the world.

Grinding his teeth so hard it drowns out the ambient sound of driving, Dick glares at the asphalt in front of him, demanding that it get him to the cave _faster_.

Just a few more minutes.

“Regardless,” Ric pipes up again, smiling when the sound of his voice drags an audible groan out of Dick. “In every universe I’ve ever been to, two things remain constant. One, you’re an insufferable goodie two shoes. And two, Jason has a huge, stupid, absolutely precious, puppy crush on us.”

It doesn’t _fully_ escape Dick’s notice that Ric says “you” when talking about the multiversal Dick Graysons, but “us” when mentioning Jason’s crush. But he files it away for further examination later. Right now, he’s too focused on the second half.

“I’ve been to other universes too, _Ric_ ,” he says, purposefully emphasizing the name. “And I’ve never been to one like that.”

Ric dramatically clutches at his heart. “Ouch. Pulling out the dreaded ‘Ric’. I’m hurt.”

He obviously isn’t. And it just annoys Dick more that a nickname they both hate, doesn’t seem to bother the doppelganger at all.

“But it doesn’t change the fact I’m right,” Ric continues. “You’re oblivious in most of them. Though, not usually quite so prudish and horrified at the concept.”

Glancing over, Dick opens his mouth to retort. But Ric perks up suddenly, hands falling from where they cradle his head to his knees so he can lean forward.

Turning his attention back to the road, Dick finds himself trailing a familiar motorcycle, crimson helmet reflecting the headlights of the Batmobile as they both turn off the main road for the secret entrance to the cave.

Anxiety turns Dick’s stomach.

“Just… try not to be too weird, please,” he tries to reason.

The look on the other’s face does not bode well. “No promises.”

* * *

Glancing between them for the third time, Jason scrunches up his nose, thick arms crossed over his broad chest. He know Jason thinks the stance makes him look menacing but with the nose-scrunch he’s too young looking and too cute to be threatening.

“Two of you? I died again, didn’t I? This must be Hell,” he grumbles.

Dick just rolls his eyes. That’s pretty much word for word how he expected Jason to react. But next to him, Ric recoils. It’s just a little flinch but it catches both his and Jason’s attention.

“Little wing… you _died_?”

Something dark and jealous deep in some primal part of Dick snarls in response to this… this… this _pretender_ calling _his_ Jason the nickname _Dick_ gave him. His hands ball into fists at his side and he blinks back the sudden urge to attack himself. It takes more effort than it should to relax and flex his fingers out of the grip.

Fortunately—or unfortunately, depending on how he looks at it—neither Jason nor Ric are paying any attention to him. Both have their eyes fixed on the other, Jason’s expression wary and calculating in the face of Ric’s bald horror.

“In my experience, most of us die,” Jason says carefully.

Dick can’t help but flinch a little at that. Lord knows he understands that being overly blunt or humorous about horrible things can take some of the sting away. But even though he understands that Jason might need it, it doesn’t help the prick of pain Dick feels at the reminder. Jason dying isn’t his fault, but he can’t help feeling a little guilty about it anyway. Or at least about not being around for Jason more before that fateful day. He had his own stuff, his own reasons for staying away that had nothing to do with the new kid, but, like most things, regardless of how out of his control they were, it still niggles at his conscience. And, setting aside his own feelings, Dick also knows that even though joking about horrible things might help in the moment, it doesn’t heal the wound.

“Oh, Jason,” Ric is saying, all sympathetic and… heartbroken. “That must be the difference. I’m so sorry.”

Jason’s face twists in confusion, an expression Dick knows must be mirrored on his own, and they both open their mouths to ask a question.

Before they can utter a syllable, Ric rounds on Dick. “Where were you?” he demands.

Dick trades a baffled look with Jason who shakes his head and shrugs.

“What?” Dick asks at the same time Jason says, “It wasn’t his fault…”

Out of Jason’s line of sight, Ric quirks the side of his mouth up and his eyes gleam wickedly in the harsh fluorescent lights of the cave. It’s triumphant. Like he’s about to deal the knock-out blow. “I know it wasn’t his fault, little wing,” the doppelganger says. “I’m just wondering where—”

“He was in space,” Jason answers, teal eyes darting between them. He may not be able to see Ric’s expression but Dick’s own lip is curled in something closely resembling a snarl and he knows Jason can see that. “I was with Bruce. Dick being there wouldn’t have changed anything.”

Neither of them fully believe that. Dick knows Jason and Bruce had to split up. If he’d been there there, one way or the other, Jason wouldn’t have been alone. But they both also know that back then, Bruce would have never called Dick for help. Hearing Jason acknowledge that out loud is… relieving. Like a bit of the weight of it, a bit of the guilt he knows is misplaced but can’t help but feel anyway, is lifted.

It’s not that he ever thought that Jason blamed him for anything. Hell, Jason had made it clear from the beginning that he didn’t blame _Bruce_ for his death. But thinking and knowing are different and hearing the younger man say it means a great deal to Dick.

Then Ric turns back to Jason and the floor falls out from under Dick’s feet.

“I’m so sorry, Jase,” Ric says, stepping forward and taking one of Jason’s gloved hands in his own and gazing up into Jason’s eyes. Jason freezes at the tenderness of the touch. Dick sees him stop breathing, sees the bob of his throat when he gulps, notes the slight rise of color in his cheeks.

Could Ric be right about Jason having a crush on him?

“You’re so tall and muscular,” Ric says softly, smiling when Jason huffs and pulls his hand away even as his blush brightens. “Lazarus Pit?”

“Yeah. What of it?” Jason crosses his arms across his broad chest, trying to find his footing in the face of Ric’s forwardness.

“I’m just not used to looking up at you.” Ric steps into Jason’s space so that he’s looking up through his lashes. Dick knows the move. _Jason_ knows the move. But Dick watches Jason fall for it anyway.

Maybe because he’s never tried to flirt with or seduce Jason before, but Dick can’t believe how blind he’s been. The way Jason can’t look away… he’s looked at Dick like that before—with awe and admiration—especially when he was a kid… Dick had just never noticed the _interest_ in those wide eyes before.

The fact that Ric is right, Jason _likes_ him, slaps him in the face just in time for Ric to hammer the final nail into his coffin.

“ _My_ Jason is still smaller than me,” Ric continues, fingers finding the zipper at the bottom of Jason’s jacket and toying with it. “Fits perfectly in my arms, right under my chin. He never died, never needed a Lazarus Pit. I found out you ran away to Africa to find your birth mother and followed you.”

Ric steps even closer, almost chest to chest, and leans in. He doesn’t whisper, he obviously wants Dick to hear him too, but he lowers his voice for emphasis. “I pulled the Joker off of you and beat him to death with my bare fists.”

Dick doesn’t know what he expected but it wasn’t that. At the same time, he’s not all that surprised. After all, he once beat the Joker to death when he thought the bastard had killed Tim, when he taunted Dick about Jason’s death. The only reason Dick isn’t a killer is because Bruce was able to restart the clown’s heart.

So no, Dick isn’t particularly surprised. But the way Jason’s breath catches and his eyes get glassy but still can’t drag themselves away from Ric’s, make that bestial thing inside him roar in warning. He doesn’t like the look they’re sharing. He doesn’t like how he feels like a creepy voyeur on a too intimate moment; how he suddenly feels like _he’s_ the third wheel in his own universe.

It’s like they’ve forgotten he’s there too.

Ric’s words from earlier come back to him and echo through every corner of his mind…

 _See who can make him scream the loudest with his mouth stuffed full_.

Dick finds that an entirely unacceptable outcome.

He nudges between them and gives Ric a subtle, but not so gentle, shove away from his… his little brother.

“We’re not killers,” Dick says lamely.

Ric just smiles at him. “Well, _you’re_ not.”

Dick can’t compete with that. He knows that, somewhere deep inside Jason—though maybe not as deep as Jason would like to think—is a little boy who was murdered and came back to find the world had moved on without him. Even if Jason knows now that they love him, even if he knows now that not killing the joker has nothing to do with how much they care about him, there will always be a small piece of him that makes that connection. And anyone who rids the world Jason has to live in, of the person who murdered him, will always have a piece of Jason’s heart and soul.

Especially if they do it _for_ him.

Tossing his evil twin a sneer, Dick turns his back on him, giving Jason his full attention.

“Jay… you can see he’s bad news, right? Tell me you can… you can sense how _off_ he is?”

Jason blinks at him. He looks a little dazed, like he hit his head a little too hard. The fact that he’s not pissed that Dick interrupted… whatever that was, is both encouraging and terrifying.

The handful of heartbeats Jason looks at him, feel like an eternity in limbo and his throat constricts when Jason’s gaze flicks over Dick’s shoulder, back to the man behind him.

When Jason speaks, it’s quieter than Dick expects. “Why?”

A single word has never sat so heavily in the air. It expands to fill every nook and cranny, until it’s so thick Dick feels like he’s choking on it.

“Because you’re mine,” Ric growls, voice low and deadly. “No one touches you and lives.”

* * *

It becomes clear very quickly that Ric isn’t trying very hard to get home, if he’s trying at all.

The problem is two-fold.

One, Bruce decides that just because they’re the same person, they would obviously be compatible roommates. So Dick has to sit and listen to Ric purposely creep him out on the ride home.

“I really can’t believe you’ve never fucked him,” the man says, absentmindedly fiddling with the phone Bruce had given him. “Come on, it’s just us. You can be honest.”

Dick grinds his teeth so hard he thinks he can taste bone dust. “Fuck off.”

Cruelty pours off Ric in tangible waves so dense Dick doesn’t understand how he’s the only one who can see through the facade of decency the doppelganger wears like ill-fitting armor. He braces himself for whatever horrible thing the other man is about to say.

“Really?” he asks, voice slick and foul as oil. “Not even when Bruce first brought him home and he was just barely Robin; when he was all heart-eyed and hero-worshiping; so desperate for your attention; so _eager to please_? You didn’t take advantage of his adoration for you _once_ while you had him alone at the Tower, no Bruce looking over your shoulder?”

They’re lucky they’re at a stop sign (unlucky that they still have another 30 minute drive to reach Bludhaven), because Dick turns to look at him, eyes and mouth open wide in horror .

Ric is grinning at him, too wide and too mean. It looks wrong on his face. It looks too like the Joker’s smile. The thought makes Dick’s stomach flip unpleasantly.

Well, more so than it was already. He feels like he’s going to be sick because…

“He was like... “ Dick does some quick, imperfect mental math, “...13? 14?…”

“So?”

Maybe he’s misjudged. Maybe this version of him is younger. He’s never been to a universe where they’re not all the same age or at least the same number of years apart but there’s a first time for everything. The look on Ric’s face doesn’t inspire confidence in the idea but Dick is grasping at straws. He can’t be _this_ awful.

“How old are you?”

“26.”

Bile rises up Dick’s throat and his guts shake in rage. They’re the same age. “You were _20_ ,” he manages to spit through gritted teeth.

Ric rolls his eyes. “Why are so many versions of me such a fucking stick in the mud?”

Seething, Dick grips the steering wheel so hard it groans in resistance. He’s about 3 seconds away from beating his doppelganger's head in. Before he has the chance to rage about that, Ric speaks again.

“Your Jason is a lot bigger. All that fucking muscle.” He licks his lips. “I’d never really thought about how my little wing would look if he got to grow up right. He’s gorgeous. Your’s seems angrier though, but I suppose that’s understandable since you let his murderer wander around free with no consequences. Might take a little more effort, but I bet he submits just as beautifully as mine. And the challenge would make the victory even sweeter.”

Which brings Dick to the second fold of the two-fold problem that is Ric.

He keeps stalking Jason.

Every other day Dick has to drive to Gotham and fucking drag the little bastard back to Bludhaven.

Bruce isn’t making it any easier. Somehow Ric managed to get into Dick’s phone and forward calls from Bruce to his own so that every time Bruce calls Dick for backup, Ric tells him Dick is busy but he’d be happy to help out. With Jason back in Gotham, working the street-level stuff, it’s a sure way to get the younger vigilante in close proximity. And Bruce seems happy to let them team up.

“If you envy the relationship your doppelganger has with Jason, you can always talk to Jason about working more cases together and strengthen your bond. I’m sure he would like that.”

Fuming, Dick glares holes in the back of Bruce’s cowl while the older man hunches over the batcomputer and enters a couple notes on a case file.

“I’d expect the world’s greatest detective to be less selective about his hearing,” Dick snaps at him. “That’s not even close to what I said.”

Bruce sighs but doesn’t bother to turn around. “I heard you fine. You don’t think they should work cases together. What I don’t understand is why you’re so adamant about that.” Now Bruce turns toward him, expression softer than usual and smile indulgent. “He’s you Dick. I’ve never met a Dick Grayson who is anything less than good to his core.”

“Yes you have, you just refuse to see it,” Dick grumbles. “He’s good at hiding it. But you should still be able to tell something is off.”

“Look, Dick,” Bruce says seriously, putting a big hand on Dick’s shoulder. “Things with Jason are better but… still strained. He’s always sought your approval. You have your own life and your own city and your own team. I’m so proud of who you’ve become, I don’t want you to feel like you have to take on anything else. But this alternate you has been a blessing. Jason is more friendly and less wary of us. He’s letting down some of his walls. This has been a good thing for him, for all of us.”

Dick knows that Bruce is trying to be considerate of his feelings but the circumstances make it sting a little. It’s not _him_ Jason is getting close to. It’s some creepy asshole from another universe who’s pretending to be a good person to get in Jason’s pants.

The fact that that thought doesn’t make him cringe the way it used to is a sign of how long Ric has been with them. How long the doppelganger has been making disgusting comments about how if Dick never fucked him, Jason must still be a virgin. They’ve gotten into two all out brawls with each other in the last two weeks that destroyed Dick’s apartment. The first when Ric bragged about coping a feel and watching Jason blush and stammer. The second when Ric said he pushed Jason against an alley wall after beating the shit out of some of Black Mask’s goons and stuck his tongue down his throat.

They fought to a draw, until both collapsed from exhaustion, Ric’s “Sure you’re not jealous?” ringing in his ears and ruining his dreams.

If he’s noticing how tight Jason’s pants are across his thick thighs, it’s because Ric’s mentioned it so often he can’t help but notice. If the temperature in the room rises when Jason works out, it’s Ric’s fault.

He’s not jealous. Not like that.

And then there’s Jason.

“Can we talk?” never means anything good. Especially when the person saying it isn't exactly the sharing sort. So when Jason asks, Dick tries to ready himself for the worst, as they take seats at Jason’s kitchen counter.

Then Jason talks and Dick is wholly unprepared.

“This is really awkward,” Jason starts with a deep, steadying breath, refusing to meet Dick’s eyes. “You may have figured it out now with… with everything that’s going on or you may not have noticed at all, you were always kinda clueless about it but… I’ve always had this… crush isn’t the right word… I’ve…” his bright, teal eyes flick up to Dick’s and Jason gulps before forcing himself to continue, “...I’ve been in love with you since I was 12.”

Dick’s heart slams to screeching halt. He knows now, of course. How could he not with the way Jason looks at Ric when Ric gives him even the slightest hint of attention? But Jason saying it out loud shatters the thin veneer of normalcy they’d all been clinging to.

“I know you don’t feel the same way. At best—and worst—you think of me as a… a brother. But you’ve always been more than that to me. I thought maybe I was over it, after my resurrection and before I came back to Gotham. Then I saw you and… and I knew I’d never be.”

“Jay—” Dick tries but Jason shakes his head, steeling himself for whatever he wants to say next.

“My point is, I know we’re never going to be anything more than this to each other…” Dick’s face must fall at that, at the suggestion that they’ll never be more than the tense frenemies they are now, because Jason quickly catches himself and backtracks. “No, I mean… we’ll never be… romantic. I want to be friends, brothers, if that’s what you want,” he snorts out a nervous, self-deprecating chuckle, “I’ll take whatever you’re willing to give, to be honest. I know I don’t deserve even that.”

Dick opens his mouth to set the record straight on that one but Jason cuts him off again.

“Please… I need to get this out and if you talk before I’m finished, I’ll lose my nerve.” He smiles, waits for Dick to nod, and finally reaches his horrific point. “I know we’ll never be what I want us to be. I know he’s not you, and frankly, that’s the only reason I’m asking this, because he’s _not_ you. I know this is weird but… he’s with his Jason. They’re together. I just… I want to know what that’s like, even if it’s not the same. Even if it’s just a one time thing before he leaves. It’s… I’ll never have the chance again… I can’t even explain it, so I don’t expect you to understand, really, but...”

In his head, Dick is tearing his subconscious apart trying to bite his tongue until Jason finishes, already writing a lengthy monologue about why this is the single worst idea in the world. But not for the reason Jason thinks. Dick understands why Jason wants this. He doesn’t think it’s weird or out of line for Jason to ask. It’s just…

Jason can do so much better than this pale (evil) reflection.

“...but if it’s too weird for you; if it’ll change the way you look at me or affect things… I don’t want to make anything harder for you.”

It takes Dick a couple long moments to gather his thoughts, and a brief breathing exercise to get himself under control.

“Jase,” he starts, reaching out to rest his hand on Jason’s. “I don’t think it’s weird for you to want this, ok? I want you to know that, right off the bat.”

The younger man gives him the smallest nod Dick’s ever seen and, once again won’t look Dick in the eyes. He realizes that Jason’s gaze is fixed on the hand he has clasped around Jason’s.

He doesn’t move it.

“You said you know he’s not me,” Dick points out, forgetting what he was originally going to say and latching on to that part of Jason’s speech. “That's why you’re even considering it… what’s so different about us?”

After a short hesitation, Jason says, “He’s a lot like you in all the good ways. He’s considerate and funny and confident and he’s so disgustingly talented he makes everything look so easy but…” he swallows and looks back up at Dick. “Every once in a while he says something that’s just a little… different or smiles and it doesn’t look quite right, like there’s a… I don’t know, he’s not ‘cold’ but he’s just… I don’t know. I just know he’s not you.”

Dick considers his next words carefully. Then decides now is not the time for subtly. “He’s not a good person, Jason.”

Jason’s jaw flexes and his throat bobs. He refocuses his attention back to the countertop, or where their hands rest atop the countertop.

“I know,” he mutters, voice thick. “I’ve known since the beginning. Since he looked at me like I... It just… it didn’t- _doesn’t_ matter. I know who I am, the kind of person I am. Any you that’s _you_ isn’t going to want me in that way and I’ve made peace with that. I just… I just thought I could maybe have this. Just for a minute.” The smile Jason turns to him then is the smallest, least sincere thing Dick has ever seen. “Like I said, I’ll take what I can get.”

“Jay—”

“Please don’t give me the whole uplifting speech about how I’m better than I think I am or whatever. I’m really not being down on myself, I’m just being realistic. If you’re not comfortable with it, then let me know. That’s why I’m asking.”

Dick stares at him for a long moment. He _really_ wants to give Jason the whole uplifting speech about how he’s better than he thinks he is and he hates that Jason was able to successfully block him from doing so.

Except that… no, he doesn’t hate that. He kind of loves that. He loves everything Jason just said and what it means. That Jason is the only one who has noticed that Ric is the evil twin. That Jason knows him well enough to see tell the difference.

Blaming Ric doesn’t change the fact that Dick has noticed how attractive Jason grew up long before the doppelganger dropped in. It doesn’t change the fact that Jason is kind and generous and hard-working and even though they have their differences Jason _is_ a good person who has a deep, genuine, desire to help people. Ric being an asshole doesn’t change the fact that Dick has been shoving his not-quite-platonic interest in Jason into a lock box in a dark, forgotten corner of himself where he doesn’t have to deal with it.

Until now.

Twisting bodily on his stool to fully face Jason, Dick reaches over, cups both hands around the younger man’s face and turns his head so they can look at each other. Jason’s eyes narrow and he tries, halfheartedly, to pull away.

Dick doesn’t let him go. He keeps him right where he is. Right where he belongs.

“You’re a smart man, Jason, but, like the rest of us, you’re harder on yourself than others. You deserve more than a knock-off consolation prize. You don’t need to be “better” to get what you want and you’re _way_ too good to settle for that creep.”

He looks into those wide, brilliant eyes, sees the hope and the hesitation. With a kind smile, Dick pulls Jason toward him, leans in to meet him half-way, and presses their lips together in a soft kiss.

Dick keeps the brush of his tongue gentle and tentative, giving Jason some time to process what’s happening and either push away or reciprocate. The moment drags on just this side of too long and he’s just starting to worry that he’s made a mistake, just considering breaking the kiss, when finally Jason comes to life against him.

There’s a quiet, almost unnoticeable hitch in the younger man’s breath, then he’s melting into it, letting Dick’s tongue dip deeper into his mouth, weight shifting forward into Dick’s space, rough, calloused hands coming up between Dick’s to grip his shirt.

Ric is going to be insufferably smug about this. But with Dick and Jason working together, they’ll send the bastard back to where he belongs in no time.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed the fic, comments are very much appreciated <3


End file.
